BILL NUMBER: SB 1341	CHAPTERED  09/27/00

	CHAPTER   720
	FILED WITH SECRETARY OF STATE   SEPTEMBER 27, 2000
	APPROVED BY GOVERNOR   SEPTEMBER 25, 2000
	PASSED THE SENATE   AUGUST 31, 2000
	PASSED THE ASSEMBLY   AUGUST 30, 2000
	AMENDED IN ASSEMBLY   AUGUST 7, 2000
	AMENDED IN SENATE   JULY 5, 2000
	AMENDED IN SENATE   MAY 30, 2000
	AMENDED IN SENATE   APRIL 24, 2000

INTRODUCED BY   Senator Burton
   (Coauthor:  Assembly Member Machado)

                        JANUARY 10, 2000

   An act to amend Sections 10004 and 10004.5 of, and to add Section
10004.6 to, the Water Code, relating to water.


	LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST


   SB 1341, Burton.  Water resources.
   Under existing law, the Department of Water Resources operates the
State Water Project and exercises specified water planning
functions.  Existing law requires the department to update The
California Water Plan, which is a plan for the conservation,
development, and use of the water resources of the state, every 5
years.
   This bill would require the department to update The California
Water Plan on or before December 31 2003, and every 5 years
thereafter.  The bill would require the department to provide written
notice to interested persons of meetings of a prescribed advisory
committee that assists the department in updating The California
Water Plan.  The bill would require the department to include in the
California Water Plan a discussion of the potential for alternative
water pricing policies, as prescribed.
   The bill would require the department, as part of updating The
California Water Plan, to conduct a study to determine the amount of
water needed to meet the state's future needs and to recommend
programs, policies, and facilities to meet those needs, as
prescribed.   The bill would require the department, by January 1,
2002, and one year prior to issuing each successive update to The
California Water Plan, to release a preliminary draft of the
assumptions and estimates upon which the study will be based.  The
bill would make related findings and declarations.


THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS:


  SECTION 1.  The Legislature finds and declares all of the
following:
   (a) A long-term, reliable supply of water is essential to protect
and enhance California's natural resources and economic climate.
   (b) While the Department of Water Resources has projected that
Californians will experience chronic water shortages in the future,
the Legislature has heard credible testimony from a number of
different interest groups calling into question the accuracy of those
estimates.
   (c) Without credible and accurate estimates of water supply needs,
it is impossible to ensure that water programs, policies, and
investments are appropriate to meet all residential, commercial,
industrial, agricultural, and environmental needs.
   (d) CALFED's recent hearings on its draft environmental documents
showed that there are widely disparate views on the role additional
surface water storage should play in meeting the state's future water
needs.  Some argue that the state's water needs can all be met
through water conservation, reuse, and other nonstructural methods.
Others argue that to protect current and future uses of water,
additional surface storage is essential.
   (e) To reconcile these views, and to ensure the state makes
appropriate investments in water programs, policies, and facilities,
there needs to be a credible and objective assessment of the state's
future water supply needs.
  SEC. 2.  Section 10004 of the Water Code is amended to read:
   10004.  (a) The plan for the orderly and coordinated control,
protection, conservation, development, and utilization of the water
resources of the state which is set forth and described in Bulletin
No. 1 of the State Water Resources Board entitled "Water Resources of
California," Bulletin No.  2 of the State Water Resources Board
entitled, "Water Utilization and Requirements of California," and
Bulletin No. 3 of the department entitled, "The California Water
Plan," with any necessary amendments, supplements, and additions to
the plan, shall be known as "The California Water Plan."
   (b) (1) The department shall update The California Water Plan on
or before December 31, 2003, and every five years thereafter.  The
department shall report the amendments, supplements, and additions
included in the updates of The California Water Plan, together with a
summary of the department's conclusions and recommendations, to the
Legislature in the session in which the updated plan is issued.
   (2) The department shall establish an advisory committee,
comprised of representatives of agricultural and urban water
suppliers, local government, business, production agriculture, and
environmental interests, and other interested parties, to assist the
department in the updating of The California Water Plan.  The
department shall consult with the advisory committee in carrying out
this section.  The department shall provide written notice of
meetings of the advisory committee to any interested person or entity
that request the notice.  The meetings shall be open to the public.

   (3) The department shall release a preliminary draft of The
California Water Plan, as updated, upon request, to interested
persons and entities throughout the state for their review and
comments.  The department shall provide these persons and entities an
opportunity to present written or oral comments on the preliminary
draft.  The department shall consider these comments in the
preparation of the final publication of The California Water Plan, as
updated.
  SEC. 3.  Section 10004.5 of the Water Code is amended to read:
   10004.5.  As part of the requirement of the department to update
The California Water Plan pursuant to subdivision (b) of Section
10004, the department shall include in the plan a discussion of
various strategies, including, but not limited to, those relating to
the development of new water storage facilities, water conservation,
water recycling, desalination, conjunctive use, and water transfers
that may be pursued in order to meet the future water needs of the
state.  The department shall also include a discussion of the
potential for alternative water pricing policies to change current
and projected uses.  The department shall include in the plan a
discussion of the potential advantages and disadvantages of each
strategy and an identification of all federal and state permits,
approvals, or entitlements that are anticipated to be required in
order to implement the various components of the strategy.
  SEC. 4.  Section 10004.6 is added to the Water Code, to read:
   10004.6.  (a) As part of updating The California Water Plan every
five years pursuant to subdivision (b) of Section 10004, the
department shall conduct a study to determine the amount of water
needed to meet the state's future needs and to recommend programs,
policies, and facilities to meet those needs.
   (b) The department shall consult with the advisory committee
established pursuant to subdivision (b) of Section 10004 in carrying
out this section.
   (c) On or before January 1, 2002, and one year prior to issuing
each successive update to The California Water Plan, the department
shall release a preliminary draft of the assumptions and other
estimates upon which the study will be based, to interested persons
and entities throughout the state for their review and comments.  The
department shall provide these persons and entities an opportunity
to present written or oral comments on the preliminary draft.  The
department shall consider these documents when adopting the final
assumptions and estimates for the study.  For the purpose of carrying
out this subdivision, the department shall release, at a minimum,
assumptions and other estimates relating to all of the following:
   (1) Basin hydrology, including annual rainfall, estimated
unimpaired stream flow, depletions, and consumptive uses.
   (2) Groundwater supplies, including estimates of sustainable
yield, supplies necessary to recover overdraft basins, and supplies
lost due to pollution and other groundwater contaminants.
   (3) Current and projected land use patterns, including the mix of
residential, commercial, industrial, agricultural, and undeveloped
lands.
   (4) Environmental water needs, including regulatory instream flow
requirements, nonregulated instream uses, and water needs by
wetlands, preserves, refuges, and other managed and unmanaged natural
resource lands.
   (5) Current and projected population.
   (6) Current and projected water use for all of the following:
   (A) Interior uses in a single-family dwelling.
   (B) Exterior uses in a single-family dwelling.
   (C) All uses in a multifamily dwelling.
   (D) Commercial uses.
   (E) Industrial uses.
   (F) Parks and open spaces.
   (7) Evapotranspiration rates for major crop types, including
estimates of evaporative losses by irrigation practice and the extent
to which evaporation reduces transpiration.
   (8) Current and projected adoption of urban and agricultural
conservation practices.
   (9) Current and projected supplies of water provided by water
recycling and reuse.
   (d) The department shall include a discussion of the potential for
alternative water pricing policies to change current and projected
water uses identified pursuant to paragraph (6) of subdivision (c).
   (e) Nothing in this section requires or prohibits the department
from updating any data necessary to update The California Water Plan
pursuant to subdivision (b) of Section 10004.
